Value of Semi-Quantitative Analysis of Dynamic Contrast-enhanced MRI for Diagnosing Staging of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, and Comparison with PET-CT

Introduction: Dynamic Contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) consists of a series of rapid T1-weighted imaging (seconds per scan; tens of scans) performed before, during, and after the administration of an intravenous contrast agent that reduces the T1 value of blood and thereby enhances the signal intensity. It has become a useful tool to study the perfusion, permeability and angiogenesis property in tumor tissues [1-2]. While the value of DCE-MRI has been reported for many tumor types [3-5], its role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), one of the leading cancer types in East Asia, has not been well established. It was reported that the staging of NPC patients has been shown to be critical for treatment and prognosis [6,7]. In this project we aimed to study the relationship between contrast enhancement parameters in dynamic DCEMRI and the diagnosing staging of NPC, and the correlation between parameters from DCE-MRI and PET-CT scanning.